People you should know

Social services

No matter where you are in the transplant process, you do not have to face your concerns alone. Your transplant team recognizes that preparing for and living with a transplant will affect your lifestyle in many ways. Your transplant team will help you maintain and resume many of your activities and even become involved in new ones.

Create a team to help you cover transplant costs.

Transplant social workers

Most transplant programs are staffed with social workers who are ready to help you. Transplant social workers can counsel you and your family and provide a variety of helpful resources. They can also help you begin to develop your financial plan.

Through an informal interview, your social worker will determine your needs and help you understand and cope with basic problems associated with your illness, such as:

You have a right to request that the information you share with your social worker be kept confidential — as long as the information is not vital to your medical care.

Financial coordinators

Although the social worker may have knowledge about government funding and disability programs, financial issues are only a part of his or her responsibilities. The financial coordinator has detailed knowledge of financial matters and hospital billing methods.

Social workers and financial coordinators work together to determine how you can best afford the cost of your transplant.

Reference and Publication Information

United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) is committed to providing accurate and reliable information for transplant patients. The content on this page was originally created on July 10, 2003 by UNOS and last modified on January 30, 2012.

This Web site is intended solely for the purpose of electronically providing the public with general health-related information and convenient access to the data resources. UNOS is not affiliated with any one product nor does UNOS assume responsibility for any error, omissions or other discrepancies.

Did you know?

There are multiple steps in the transplant process:

You are evaluated for a transplant by the medical team at a transplant center.

If accepted as a transplant candidate, you are registered on the national organ transplant waiting list. A living donor may also be identified and evaluated for living donation.